


Child of Death, Destroyer of Worlds

by ChaosDancer12, Firehedgehog



Series: A Split In Time [2]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: ErrorisGoth, FGoD, Identity Issues, Identity Reveal, Kidnapping, M/M, afterdeath, poth
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-16
Updated: 2021-02-15
Packaged: 2021-03-06 00:47:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 14,114
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25924606
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChaosDancer12/pseuds/ChaosDancer12, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Firehedgehog/pseuds/Firehedgehog
Summary: A lot of Undertale fans have a theory that Error used to be a Geno!Sans.I disagree. Kinda...I just mention it once on Discord and suddenly, I have a lot of people asking me to write it.So, here it is....Are you guys happy now?"Well, I guess that Fate was good for something..." Goth said as he stared at himself in the mirror, he had though that when he gained the ability to take on the form of who he used to be, he would still be short but instead, he was taller than Palette now. His scarf was the only thing that still fit him, he had to get new clothes."Now, how am I going to convince Mom, Dad and Palette that I am who I say that I am without getting Ink's or Fate's attention..."*Originally posted on Wattpad*
Relationships: Geno/Death, Goth/Palette Roller (Undertale)
Series: A Split In Time [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1881430
Comments: 12
Kudos: 85
Collections: Glitchy Boi is Best Boi





	1. Beginnings

Fate needed a Destroyer, someone to destroy so that her Child could continue to create without stopping.

It was a shame that she had to take his Soul away when his first created AUs collapsed and he realised that he had to be careful with his creations but the silly Child still didn't understand that she knew what would be best for him and that he should listen to her.

She looked into one of Time's mirrors and she found the perfect Destroyer.

The oldest child of a Reaper Sans and a Genocide Sans. A skeleton trapped as a small child.

She reached out through time and she took the young skeleton, locking away his memories and changing his appearance before she placed him in the Anti Void.

* * *

Geno screamed as one of his babies suddenly disappeared in front of him, alerting the rest of the family to the eldest child's sudden disappearance.

Reaper was pissed, he had fought for so long to have this family, courting Geno, arguing with all of the other Gods in his AU when he announced his intentions to marry Geno, the birth of his children, but his eldest child held a special place in his Soul, for he had been the only one to inherit the Title and the powers of a Grim Reaper.

Everyone in that Multiverse learned on that day to fear Death, for no-one took what belonged to Death without paying the consequences.

The other Children just wanted their eldest Brother back.

* * *

It took his best friend being kidnapped for Palette to realise that he wanted to be more than friends with him.

Palette mourned for what could have been and for the love that he lost before it could begin...

* * *

But Hope was not lost....

* * *

The Anti Void, a Sea of white only broken by blue strings and the puppets strung up within them, joined by Determined Souls.

Only one being could live here.

Error. The destroyer.

The black and red boned skeleton was glitching again, but this time, it wasn't because someone triggered his Haphephobia, it was for a different reason...

**ERROR! ERROR!**  
**CORE DATA NOT FOUND!**  
**REBOOT? Y/N?**  
**YES.**  
**REBOOT....**  
**WARNING! UPDATE DETECTED!**  
**INSTALL UPDATE? Y/N?**  
**YES.**  
**'FORM CHANGE' UPDATE INSTALLED.**  
**RELOADING CORE DATA...**  
**REBOOT COMPLETE!**

Error's formed flickered, until it settled on the form of a teenage skeleton with white bones and a single eyelight dressed in raggy clothing, with a red scarf in place of the blue one.

Goth blinked a few times before he finally reacted.

Goth was normally a soft spoken skeleton but considering what, or rather who, Fate had turned him into and everything that she had put him and Ink through, his reaction fit the current situation.

"Fuck you Fate!"

* * *

"Well, I guess that Fate was good for something..." Goth said as he stared at himself in the mirror, he had thought that when he gained the ability to take on the form of who he used to be, he would still be short but instead, he was taller than Palette now. His scarf was the only thing that still fit him, he had to get new clothes.

"Now, how am I going to convince Mom, Dad and Palette that I am who I say that I am without getting Ink's or Fate's attention..."


	2. Gothy?

It had been two years since Goth had been kidnapped. Palette missed him.

His pain grew even more when Mr.Geno allowed him to look at Goth's journals, to find out that all this time, Goth loved him more than a friend.

He wasn't looking where he was going, so he ended up bumping into someone, they ended on the floor in a pile of limbs and Palette began to apologise.

"I'm so sorry!" He said as he helped the other Skeleton get back up onto his feet and pick up the books that he had been carrying. They had fallen onto the floor when they knocked each other over.

"It's okay." The other skeleton said as he accepted the books back from Palette. "I wasn't looking where I was going."

Palette had to look up to see the other Skeleton's face, only to freeze when he saw his face.

A single eyelight looked down at him, wide in shock.

"Gothy?"

"Palette!"

Palette turned around to see Dream running over to him, having seen his Son fall but not who he bumped into.

"Are you okay?!"

"Mom! I think that I found Gothy!"

"Palette, you must have been seeing things. You might have runned into a version of Goth that lives in this AU."

"But Mom, he's right..." Palette turned around to see that the other Skeleton was gone. "Here..."

* * *

Goth breathed heavily after he had taken a Shortcut to the apartment that he was currently living in. It had been two whole years since he remembered who he was and he was still running away from his past.

But seeing Palette had brought it all back to him.

"Palette..." Goth whispered, clutching at his scarf. He wanted to go home, Palette hadn't given up on him, he was still looking for him...

But he couldn't go home, not yet....

There was something that he had to do....

There had to be a reason why Fate took him, all that he knew was that it had something to do with Ink and his Soulless state.

Ink couldn't feel emotions without his paint, but the paint needed a starting point to work on, creating AUs generated the paint but who created the paint to began with?

And if Ink was truly Soulless, how could Dream's Aura work on him and how could he have helped to create Palette without a Soul?

All these questions, and all of the interactions that he had so far with Ink, all pointed to one conclusion.

Ink had a Soul, and then, he was suddenly Soulless.

So, what happened to Ink's Soul? Where was it and was it connected to why Fate took him?

But still, it hurt, to be so far away from those that he loved and so close to them at the same time....

He didn't see the tears that fell onto his scarf.


	3. Puppets

Despite the new form change ability, Goth was Error, and he still had a duty to do.

Entering the Anti-Void, Goth took on the form of Error, before he checked on the state of the Multiverse, it seemed that since his kidnapping two years ago, Ink had slowed down on the speed that new AUs and copies where being created.

It did make some sense that Ink slowed down when it came to his Creation sprees, it would be difficult to find him if there was too many AUs for everyone to go through and if those AUs had copies of him in them, they had to figure out if they were the real him or a copy of him tied to that AU.

There was no AUs or copies for him to destroy today.

He was about to leave when he sensed a familiar aura. He turned around to see Nightmare.

Goth had mixed feelings about the goopy Skeleton, as Goth, he had only heard the stories about Nightmare and all of them were not good, but as Error, he had seen the truth behind the stories, he had gotten to know the real Nightmare, who occasionally treated him like he was one of his Boys.

He now understood why he treasured those times, he was technically still a kid, he was still frozen in time, but the only change was that his physical body was closer to his mental age now. He had missed his family, even though those memories had been locked away by Fate, so, the Fatherly Affection that Nightmare had given him, helped to ease that pain but it never went away...

He sighed, right as Nightmare began to speak to him.

**"Error, what's wrong?"**

"Everything and nothing at the same time." Goth replied as he let himself fall backwards, onto his blue beanbag.

 **"Everything and nothing?"** Nightmare repeated. **"What do you mean by that?"**

Goth frowned, thinking about it. "What if, I told you, that I might have a plan that has a 50/50 chance of yeeting some common sense into Ink's head?" He asked.

**"Does this have to do with why you have been almost silent for the past two years?"**

"Yes.... Two years ago, I remembered, who I had been before I became Error." Goth began. "The memories broke through the seal that Fate had been using to keep them back. She had a good reason to do that..."

**"Why..."**

"'Mare, I come from this time, Fate took me two years ago and she dragged me back in time, I was an Outcode before she took me and turned me into this, but my parents and my siblings are still alive. I wasn't even a normal Outcode, I looked younger then I was, a kid when I was actually a teenager. I was locked in time, something that still stays with me, even if Fate broke the lock long enough for my physical body to have an overdue growth spurt."

 **"You're just a kid!?"** Nightmare yelled before he scooped Goth up into a tight hug, allowing the teenage Destroyer to wrap his arms around him.

"Yeah..." Goth muttered before he buried his head in Nightmare's neck. "I miss them so much. My Dad, my Mom, all of my siblings, my best friend, Fate took all of them from me, just for her own selfish reasons!"

 **"I know, but no matter how hard we try, sometimes, we can't fix the past."** Nightmare said as he gently rubbed Goth's back. **"But we can move forwards and fix the future, I could give anything to have the chance to go back in time and stop the villagers from forcing me to eat those Apples, but what I have left to give is what I want to protect, they are mine and I am their's. You can't stop Fate from taking your past self but you can fix what she broke within your family. You can go home now, right?"**

"When she took my past self, it had a side effect on me, it was how I remembered who I was..." Goth muttered. "And I can turn back into who I used to be but I can't go home, not yet..."

 **"Why?"** Nightmare asked as he pulled away from Goth.

"Something is bothering me." Goth said, playing with his strings. "Why exactly does Fate need a Destroyer? She can't have started out with the need for one, so, what happened to change that?"

That was a good question, if Error was needed from the start, then he should have been born at the same time as Ink, but he hadn't. He had been added after the main puzzle had been created, an extra piece that you didn't need. What happened to make Fate change her mind....

The goop on Nightmare shivered as he came to one groundbreaking answer to that question.

 **"This isn't the first run for our Multiverse..."** Nightmare whispered. **"It's the second...."**

Goth nodded his head. "Ink had to have overcrowded the Multiverse to the point that it collapsed, there was no one to get rid of the AUs and copies that wasn't needed."

 **"So, why is he repeating the chain of events that lead to the Multiverse collapsing?"** Nightmare asked. **"If he remembers how it happened the first time, why is he doing it again?"**

"Fate can be cruel..." Goth said. "But most of all, she hates it when someone decides to go against her... Ink had to come up with a solution to prevent this from happening again but I think that Fate didn't like any of the solutions that he had, because in the end, the only thing that Ink could do was limit the amount of Creation that he did... Fate must have done something to make him forget about the first run of the Multiverse, which could be the reason why he has Swiss Cheese for his memories..."

**"And then she forced you to do the job that she should have done."**

Goth nodded his head. "Things would have been so much easier if Fate explained to Ink about the balance, because, technically, we are the Life and Death of the Multiverse. You can't have one without the other and it also brings me to something that I have noticed about Ink. Two things actually..."

**"What is it?"**

"Ink is Soulless, right? But some of the things that he can do, needs a Soul. We can argue that Magic can help him to do most of these things, but it's Palette that brings up a lot of questions about Ink's status as a Soulless Monster, because, shouldn't he have a half a Soul instead of a full Soul?"

**"You're right! That brat should be like Cross, with half a Monster's Soul, what did they do to the brat to stop that?"**

"What if they didn't do anything, to create a new Soul, you need two Souls and a lot of Magic, but in some AUs, they just use a lot of Magic instead. Palette could have been created through the second method, but as the Creator, shouldn't Ink be able to use both of them?"

Nightmare looked at Error. **"So, if the brat wasn't created through the second method, and they didn't do anything, how is this possible? Did Ink lie to us about being a Soulless Monster..."**

"No, he is a Soulless Monster, but, who says that he was always a Soulless Monster..." Goth said. "The fact that he needs paint to feel emotions, should have been the trigger for alarms bells."

**"Why?"**

"Emotions are just as unique as our Souls, everyone has different triggers for their anger, everyone has their own way to make themselves happy and everyone has their own breaking point. Artificial emotions can be created, but they don't last for long and a long time ago, when some of the other Sans were dared to drink the paint, they had different reactions to it."

**"What are you trying to say Error?"**

"What I am trying to say is, the only way that the paint can give Ink emotions is that if they had a baseline to work on, an idea on how Ink feels these emotions, his Soul."

 **"Wait, are you saying that he used to have a Soul!?"** Nightmare asked. Everything that Error told him was slipping into place, Ink wasn't always a Soulless, he had a Soul, once.... **"What happened to change that? Did he remove it himself!?"**

"No." Goth said, staring at two certain Puppets that hung above him. "If the Seal placed on my Memories can break, then what about the one on Ink's? It would break eventually, nothing stays hidden forever, Fate needed another way to keep him under her thumb and the best way to do that, possibly? She took his Soul and she hid it somewhere, she couldn't have taken it with her, the paints need the baseline in order to work, and since, they are created when Ink creates a new AU, it has to be here, somewhere...."

**"Error...."**

"If I can get it back, I can use it to end this fight forever, no more Creation, no more Destruction. I can go home and be me again, I can go back to my Mom and my Dad, my siblings, my best friend, I can have them back and..."

Nightmare could clearly see the tears rolling down Error's cheeks, to be so close to finally bringing this War to an end, to finally freeing himself from the chains and the duties that Fate had forced on him....

 **"But what if it doesn't work?"** Nightmare asked, seeing a flaw in Error's plan. **"What if he still needs his paints?"**

"With a Soul, he should see a need to cut down on how much of it that he drinks, making his supply of paint last longer." Goth shrugged his shoulders. "I'm okay with the occasional new AU or Copy being created once in a while, as long as it doesn't tip the balance and destroy everything. I will step in if that does happen, but in the end, both of us get something out of it, Ink gets a Soul and I can go home. I know that this plan won't solve everything, but.... I can deal with that when that day comes...."

 **"I'll tell my boys to keep an eye out for anything suspicious."** Nightmare said as he opened a portal. **"But Error, who are you?"**

"That's for me to know and you to find out." Goth smiled. "I know how much you love a good riddle."

Nightmare smirked, before he entered the portal, with it closing behind him.

The smile on Goth's face dropped once he was gone and the teenage Skeleton brought out his knitting supplies. He brought down the two puppets that had been hanging above him, staring at them.

Reaper and Geno. His parents.

He placed the puppets next to him before he opened a one way portal to Undernovela, because, despite everything that had happened, he still loved Undernovela.

The noises of his knitting needles hitting each other as he began to create a new puppet, faded into the background as he watched his show. He didn't know how long he sat there, but when he looked down, he found himself looking at puppets that looked like his siblings but the one that grabbed his attention the most, was the one that he had just finished.

"Palette..." Goth whispered as his form flickered and he returned to his birth form, surrounded by the handmade puppets of his loved ones.

He whimpered, before he closed the one way portal to Undernovela, put his knitting supplies away, and he gathered all of the puppets in his arms.

Goth opened a new portal, heading to the apartment that he currently lived in. He placed the puppets on his bed, all of them, apart from the Palette puppet.

He placed this one in his left pocket.

"I know that you miss me and that you want me home, where I am safe and you can keep me safe." He muttered as he picked up the puppets of his parents and he hugged them tightly. "But I can't come home, not yet, not now, not when I am a danger to you all... If anyone found out who I am, what I have done, what I plan to do, it would put all of you in danger and I don't want that!"

Goth could feel the tears rolling down his cheeks.

"But I swear, once all of this is over, I'm coming home and I'll never leave you again, I promise."


	4. Palette

Palette found himself walking in the snow, he was so confused, one minute he was in his bed, trying to get some sleep and then, in the next minute, he was walking in ankle deep snow.

The snow crunched underneath his boots as he walked, but the further that he got, the darker the snow became.

Palette knew that something was wrong when he started to see blood in the grey snow, but who it belonged to, he did not know.....

He could now see someone standing in front of him. The figure wore a tattered red scarf with a ragged white coat and he was just standing there.

Palette could see several loose White Strings wrapped around their form, most of the Strings were on their neck but a few stray Strings had made their home on their arms and legs.

The figure slowly turned around and Palette gasped. "Gothy!" He yelled, running forwards and pulling his friend into his arms, letting one hand rest on Goth's back while the other one cradled the back of his head.

"Palette?" Goth asked, before he wrapped his own arms around Palette, burying his face into Palette's chest, sobbing. "Palette..."

"It's okay Gothy, everything's going to be okay." Palette wrapped his arms tighter around his friend. "I've got you, you're safe now, you're going to be okay...."

Goth sniffed, before he pulled his face away from Palette's chest, allowing him to see the tears that were still steaming down his face.

Palette chuckled and he moved his hands so that they were placed on Goth's cheeks, wiping the tears away with his thumbs.

He then leaned down and pressed his forehead against Goth's, smiling. "You're going to be okay Gothy, I promise. Mr.Geno, Mr.Reaper and the rest of your family are really worried about you, let's go home Goth. They're waiting for us."

Goth smiled, but it was a sad smile, as if he knew something that Palette didn't know about.

"I can't... I can't come home Palette..."

"Gothy, what's wrong?" Palette asked, but he didn't get an answer, because he was suddenly pushed away by something.

He knew that it wasn't Goth, because his friend's eyelight was wide and the White Strings on his body were suddenly pulling him away, towards a portal that was slowly opening.

"PALETTE!" Goth screamed, reaching out for him as more of those White Strings wrapped around his body.

"Gothy!" Palette lunged, trying to grab his friend's hand, but he was too late. The White Strings yanked Goth into a portal, just as the tips of Palette's fingers brushed against Goth's hand.

Palette found himself falling into the grey snow, spluttering and coughing as he tried to get what he had swallowed out of his mouth, for this was not snow, it was Dust.

* * *

Palette suddenly found himself sitting up in the bed of the room that he was staying in for the night, with his arm held out in front of him.

"It was just that nightmare..." Palette said, as he slowly calmed down. "Again..."

He drew his knees closer to his chest and he wrapped his arms around them. It was the same nightmare that he had been having for the past two years. It never changed.

He would find himself walking somewhere, covered in grey powder, and he would find Goth, they would talk for a bit but it always ended in the same way, with Goth being taken from him and then, he would find out that the grey powder was Dust.

At first, everyone thought that these nightmares were the work of his Mom's brother, but his Mom had quickly destroyed that theory, there was a different between natural nightmares and the ones that his brother created, and once you knew how to tell them apart, you could figure out which type of nightmare that it was.

Palette was having natural nightmares, they had not been created by Nightmare.

He sighed, before he grabbed his wallet, opening it so that he could see one of the pictures in it. It was a photo of him and Goth on a log plume. That had been a fun day, they was soaked through and they caught a cold because of that, but it had been a good day.

Palette gently brushed his fingers over Goth's face in the photograph, it was the last photo that had been taken before Goth had been kidnapped. They didn't know that a week after this photo had been taken, that those happy times would be brought to an end.

Palette wanted to go back in time, to the day that Goth was taken, and offer himself in Goth's place, Goth didn't deserve what had happened to him.

Palette missed his best friend, but it hurt even more when a year after Goth had been taken, he realised that he liked Goth more than a friend. That pain grew even more when Mr.Geno showed him Goth's journals.

Goth had loved him more than a friend for a very long time and that he, Palette, had placed him in the Friend-Zone. Palette could see the tear marks where Goth had cried as he wrote those entries.

It was one of the reasons that he was so determined to find Goth, he had to make up for what he had done. He had to tell Goth about his feelings. He had to bring him home and fix what had been broken.

Palette got up and he moved one of the curtains to reveal that it was still dark, but the sun was about to come up. He quickly got dressed, leaving his jacket, cap and scarf behind. It had been so long since he had seen a sunrise.

* * *

Palette found himself on a small hill, he had a good view of the sky from here but he wasn't alone. There was another Skeleton here.

He hadn't seen Palette, yet, he seemed to be more focused on his phone, even as Palette sat next to him on the bench.

The sun slowly rose into the sky, slowly adding color to the night sky that was quickly fading away. Palette sadly smiled, this was one of the best sunrises that he had seen, if only Goth was here to see this with him...

"Is something wrong?"

He almost jumped out of his seat from the softly spoken question. "No." He eventually said. "Nothing is wrong."

"You wouldn't be smiling like that, at a sunrise like this, if nothing was wrong, what happened?"

Palette was silent for a few minutes before he spoke up. "I have a friend, he's been missing for two years, kidnapped actually, he was my best friend..."

"Was?"

"I realised that I love him more than a friend a year after he was taken, but he had loved me more than a friend, I always ended up putting him in the Friend-Zone and it hurt him, a lot."

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to open up a wound like that..."

"It's fine." Palette said. "You didn't mean to..."

"So, you're looking for him?"

"Yeah, but recently, it feels like I'll never find him, I'll never see him again."

"Don't give up." Palette felt the stranger place his hand on his shoulder. "Your friend is counting on you, right?"

"Yeah..."

"You're his Hope, he believes in you, he's waiting for you to bring him home, he knows that you're coming for him and that you'll find him, so, don't give up now, stay determined, and you'll find him one day.

I have to go now, but I wish you the best of luck in finding your friend."

Palette watched the stranger walk away, before he looked back at the sun. The stranger was right, he had spent the past two years looking for Goth, he couldn't give up now, not when he had come so far.

He ran back to the Hotel, not seeing the Stranger that was watching him, or the small puppet that they held in their arms.


	5. Departure

There was nothing more that he could do here.

Goth closed the last of his borrowed books and he sighed. This AU was another dead end.

Because he had been forced to become the Destroyer, Goth knew the names and the locations of the oldest AUs of the Multiverse, and he had steadily been working his way through them, in the hopes of finding something useful.

He avoided Reapertale, his Father would recognise him right away and drag him home, which Goth didn't want, or need right now.

This was his third one since he had started this quest. Goth sighed, before he brought the Palette puppet out of his jacket's pocket. He had created a Goth puppet to go with it, being careful to make it look like him before he was taken.

He mentally went over his current supplies, he didn't need to worry about Gold right now, he had more than enough, thanks to his small online website that sold clothing and items that he had made. He would have to close it down and restart it when he got to the next AU on his list.

Food, however, was another issue. Goth was still recovering from all of the time that he didn't eat, he was an unhealthy weight for a Skeleton his age, but just like what caused the problem, only time and food would fix it.

He had devoured the last items in his cupboard and fridge a few hours ago.

This meant that he had to go shopping, yay!

* * *

It was getting dark as Goth made his way back to what would soon be his former apartment. He had brought enough travel food to last him a few days, and some more wool as well.

He was passing by an alleyway when he heard it.

The sounds of a fight.

He couldn't get involved, it could draw attention to him, which he didn't need right now.

He was about to move on when a familiar voice came from the fight.

Palette.

Goth stopped right where he was, before he threw everything into his Subspace pocket and he rushed into the alleyway.

Palette was a pretty good reason to get into a fight.

* * *

Palette yelped as he was thrown against a wall, he had been minding his own business, getting ready for the next AU, when he had been ambushed.

He recognised the patch on their jacket.

Recently, just after Goth had been taken, a group of various different Monsters and Humans had branded together to get rid of Ink.

They hated him because he tended to poke his nose into their business and messed around with them, not to mention his position as the 'Creator and Protector of AUs'.

Privately, Palette thought that they were jealous of Ink and they wanted his powers for themselves.

He tried to summon his Roller but one of the Monsters held a knife to one of his neck bones, pressing the blade against it, leaving a small nick in the bone, causing narrow to bleed from it.

The marrow dripped onto Palette's scarf.

One of the other monsters smirked. "Palette Roller, son of that interferer Ink, we have hit the jackpot boys!"

The rest of the group laughed as they brought out metal pipes and baseball bats.

"Let's see if your Dust will finally get that interferer to stop boy.."

Palette closed his eyes as one of the Monsters went for him, only to open them when the hit didn't happen.

The Monster that was going to hit him had a scythe blade going through his Soul.

 _'Mr.Reaper?'_ Palette thought as the blade was yanked out of the body as it Dusted, and there was a flash of light, and suddenly, the Monster holding the blade to Palette's neck had a blue Soul.

Palette took the opening that he had been given and he pushed the knife away from his neck, before he moved, getting out of the way.

The Monster was then yanked back into the path of the scythe as it's user swung it around again, Dusting this Monster.

Palette couldn't see them clearly but he knew that this was not Reaper, the shape and the style of the scythe blade was different and it was a lot shorter then Reaper's. He could feel his head spinning and the burning from his neck wound. His vision was going in and out but before it gave out, he saw the red scarf following the path of his rescuer.

"Gothy..."

* * *

Goth was glad that Palette had passed out from shock, he didn't want him to see this.

He swung his scythe around, glaring at the Monster's looking at them. He had heard of this group, they were not the first group to rise up and try to push their way into the main conflicts of the Multiverse but most of then eventually gave up and moved on. He had seen it happen many times.

But this group had crossed the lines by getting Palette involved in their mess.

Goth frowned, before he made his eyelight glow and allowed the blue tearmarkings to appear on his skull. He smiled, right before a group of them rushed right at him.

He spun his scythe around in a circle before him, catching the chains that this group had been swinging around, before he used them to pull them towards him and his scythe.

These Monsters were Dusted as Goth rushed forwards, a spinning cyclone of Death and Destruction.

There would be no Mercy.

* * *

Palette found himself in someone's arms as he woke up. They were warm and they seemed to be moving too.

He looked up as his vision adjusted, to see the face of his rescuer. It was older, having shred some of it's child like innocence, but Palette could recognize that eyelight and that scarf, anywhere.

"Gothy..." He mumbled, reaching out with his hands.

"Go back to sleep Palette..."

Even his voice had changed, it was older now, it was more like Mr.Reaper's now, but it was still his voice, a voice that Palette had missed so much.

Palette then realised that Goth was carrying him like a bride. His green-yellow blush bloomed to life on his skull.

Normally, it would be Palette that would be the one carrying Goth, but it was clear that Goth was now taller then Palette.

"Gothy..."

"Go back to sleep Palette."

Palette could feel his eyes closing again, but before they did, he managed to wrap his arms around Goth's neck.

"Thank you..."

* * *

Goth could feel when Palette had fallen asleep, he was hoping that the shock, the wound and the adrenaline would blurr Palette's memories of him.

"Palette...."

He gently moved his right arm so that he was hugging Palette back as he walked. He couldn't stay here, the Souls that he reaped would have traces of his Magic on them, which meant that his parents would be here soon.

Which was not good! At all!

"Let's see if I can talk my former landlady into letting you stay at my old apartment until you feel better or someone picks you up...."

* * *

Reaper paused when he felt the Magic on a few Souls that had just been reaped and sent to his domain. "Goth?" He quickly scanned the Souls and his knees shook, before they collapsed on him, even with his floating ability. He quickly sent the Souls on before he opened a portal, heading straight to Geno. "GEN!"

"What?!" Geno yelled from where he was hanging the laundry, holding a basket. "Aren't you supposed to be working, Reaper..."

"I know, but these Souls just popped up!"

"Yeah, why do you need to tell me this?"

"THEY HAD TRACES OF GOTH'S MAGIC ON THEM!"

Geno dropped the laundry basket that he had been holding. "You found Goth?!"

"I know, hurry up Gen, we need to catch up with him, before we lose him again!"

"Then open the damn portal, you bastard!" Geno yelled, right before Reaper tore open reality.

They landed in the AU, before they followed the trace of Magic in the air, right to an apartment building and up to a certain apartment.

Geno stopped before the door to it, as the wound on his chest started to flare up again.

"We're too late." The Genocide Survivor said through his mouthful of blood. "He's gone, my baby's gone again....."

"Oh Gen..." Reaper said as he hugged Geno from behind. "It's okay, we will find him. This is the furthest that we have gotten in two years. Come on, he might have left something behind."

Reaper phrased through the door, unlocking it for Geno.

The apartment was bare of anything personal, the furniture had been left behind, but anything relating to Goth was gone, apart from a letter on the table.

Geno read it, his fingers brushing over the purple tear stains that had been left behind. Goth had been crying.... His baby was crying...

**"Mom, Dad,**

**I'm sorry.**

**~Goth.**

**P.S. Palette's in the bedroom, the Souls that I reaped was from a group attacking him, he's in shock and one of his neck bones was cut. I cleaned him up and my landlady says that he can stay until he's healed.**

**P.S.S. Tell Mr.Ink to clean up after himself, this group really doesn't like him."**

Reaper chuckled at that PostScript, while Geno put the letter down, and he went to check on Palette.

He found Palette in the bed, clutching at what looked like a Puppet of Goth. It was well made and Geno almost thought that Error made it, if it wasn't for the obvious mistakes and the miscoloring of Goth's eyelight.

* * *

Palette groaned as he woke up to see Geno.

"Mr.Geno?" He asked.

"Are you okay Palette?"

Palette shook his head. "No, not really, my head hurts. What happened? The last thing that I remember was being attacked and someone saving me." He answered.

"Do you remember anything else?"

"Only that he had a scythe like Mr.Reaper." Palette looked down, only to see the Goth puppet. "Mr.Geno, why am I holding a puppet of Gothy?"

"You was cuddling it in your sleep Palette."

"I was..." Palette frowned, before he looked at the puppet again, he closed his eyes and he tried to remember what had happened to him.

A memory of a voice, attached to a face and a familiar red scarf, came to him, and he blushed once he realised something.

' _Oh no, he's hot!'_

His yellow green blush covered his entire skull, to the confusion of Geno, who was wondering what happened to make Palette blush that much.

"Palette..." Geno then noticed that something was missing. "Where's your scarf?"

* * *

Goth found himself walking through Snowdin in the middle of the night, it seemed that this AU had Reset right before he stepped foot in this AU.

This meant that Goth had to find somewhere to hide in the Underground, until the Barrier was broken and most of the Monsters moved to the surface, but after that, he would have most of the Underground to himself.

He found an empty cave and he walked into it, setting up his tent and a small campfire.

He sat down near the campfire, before he brought out Palette's scarf. He didn't know why he took it with him but he felt like he had to....

He wrapped the scarf around his neck, before he buried his face into it, and his own red scarf. He could smell Palette's scent on his scarf.

A tear rolled down one of his cheeks as he muttered.

"Someday, somehow, I will fix this mess and find my way home, to return your scarf, I promise..

Palette..."


	6. Silence

Goth couldn't help but frown at the silence around him as he entered Snowdin. It should not be this quiet, he expected to hear the noises caused by Monsters going about their daily routines and to smell the food from Grillby's, but there was none of that.

He couldn't even hear Monsters being Dusted if this was to be a Genocide Route.

Goth found himself on the path out of Snowdin, towards the ruins. It might be a good idea to see how far the Fallen Human was with their path, he could have been wrong about when the Reset happened.

If he could find Frisk, or Chara if this was a Swap!AU, then he would know what was going on.

But what he found was worse then that....

"Oh Fuck Me....." Goth muttered as he saw the Papyrus of this AU accidentally kill his brother.

* * *

"Goth Oblivion Afterdeath!" Geno suddenly yelled, shocking his husband and Palette. "When we find you young man, I am washing your mouth out with soap!"

* * *

Goth had the sinking feeling that his Mom just threatened to wash his mouth out with soap, another reason for him to avoid Reapertale for as long as he could.

He slowly backed away from the scene before he started to run like hell.

_'NopeNopeNopeNopeNopeNopeNope!'_

Yeah, he was going to skip Underfell until this Dusttale like Timeline was over.

It was a good thing that he knew a good place to hide until this Timeline was over. He yelped as he dove for cover to dodge the sea of sharpened femurs that had been sent after him.

He almost hit himself when he remembered the most common ability that all Sans shared.

Shortcuts.

He took a quick Shortcut back to his campsite, he had brought himself some time.

But where could he go? Underfell was next on his list and he was not going anywhere near Underlust, not without a way to get them to leave him alone.

He jumped when he heard the sound of screaming as he packed up his camp. Papyrus was coming.

He was about to tear open a portal when everything went black and white around him. He slowly turned around to see Underfell!Papyrus standing there, with a swirling ball of darkness besides him.

Underfell!Sans.

He gulped and he grabbed Palette's scarf with his left hand. He pulled it off and he sent it to his inventory.

He let the tear markings of Error drip down his cheeks, Goth, no, this was Error now, summoned his strings.

Their surroundings were quiet as they looked at each other.

Both of them had a high level of LOVE, it was only a matter of time before one of them broke and attacked the other Skeleton.

Underfell!Papyrus was the one to snap, he stepped forwards, intending to destroy the other monster, when a massive horde of spears shattered the floor of the cave.

Error took his chance and he stepped backwards in a portal that he had created as Underfell!Undyne entered the cave, charging towards Underfell!Papyrus.

* * *

Goth found himself in a library and he breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh, thank the stars..." He dismissed the markings and the strings, before he put Palette's scarf back on.

He knew this place.

This wasn't just any library, it was a multiversal library that was accessible to many different Multiverses. There was always a chance that you could met yourself from another Multiverse here.

There was a rule that if you came across another visitor, to not ask them about their Multiverse or if they were from yours.

He went by Searcher here, mainly to tell himself apart from any other Goth that he bumped into.

But still.....

It was lonely, being the only Goth with this timeline. He had met another Goth once, Retconned, who was the closest that he could get to finding someone who understood what it felt like to be cut out of everyone's life by an outside force.

Searcher sighed as he brought out his notebook, using it to cover his face as he walked. The library did have an Underfell section, it might not have all of the books that he needed from that AU, but it would help to pass the time while he waited for the current timeline to be completed.

He walked through the many different isles of books, heading for where he remembered the Underfell section being during his last visit, when he almost bumped into a Reaper.

This was not the Reaper from his Multiverse but this Reaper was now staring at him.

"Goth..."

"Not exactly..." He closed his Notebook. "You must have mistaken me for someone else..."

The Reaper looked closer at him. "Oh, I'm sorry. I must have mistaken you for my Goth."

"No, it's okay. I get that a lot, until they get a closer look at me."

Reaper sighed. "I guess that I should go now..."

Searcher watched as that Reaper floated away but it was what he heard that Reaper whisper that shocked him.

"....Things haven't been the same since Goth disappeared in front of Geno..."

Searcher froze where he was. "What..." He whispered. He had disappeared in front of his Geno, and since this other Goth had disappeared the same way, did this mean....

He quickly followed the path that this Reaper had come from, he had to see if he was right!

He eventually found the Goth that he was looking for. He was dressed in the clothing of NaJ Goth but he was still shorter than the NaJ and taller than a canon Goth.

The markings that he saw glowing on his bones caused him to freeze.

He knew those markings, because only a Deity like Fate could cause markings like those...

He looked at the Multiverse's code for this Goth and he breathed a sign of relief. He wasn't the only Goth with this Timeline anymore....

He walked over to the other Goth as he sighed.

* * *

"Sooo... Are you having the same issue that I am?" He asked, startling this Goth, who then spun around to see him.

"Is... that Palette's scarf?" He asked, bewildered, causing Searcher to blush briefly, before he answered his question.

"Yes, it's his."

He remembered when he got it....

* * *

_Palette winced in his sleep as Goth applied the healing gel to his neck. The two of them were in the apartment that Goth was about to move out of._

_"Gothy...." He looked to see that Palette was awake but his eyelights were fogged over. He was tugging at his scarf. "Take it, please..."_

_"Palette, that's your scarf, I can't take that!"_

_"Yes, you can..." Palette managed to tug the scarf off, holding it out to Goth. "Would make me feel better..."_

_"Palette..."_

_"Give back when done?"_

_Goth smiled. "Of course I will Palette." His patient was asleep again. Goth gently took the scarf from Palette, before he got up. He bent down near the head of the bed, close to Palette's head, before he kissed his friend's forehead._

_"I love you."_

* * *

"You said that you was having the same issue?" The other Goth asked, causing Searcher to come back to the present day.

"Yes, both of us are Goth, but an incident caused both of us to be taken by our Fates, to be the Error in our chosen multiverses." He began to explain. "Anyway, do you mind if I call you Shades? It was in your Multiverse coding and calling each other Goth will become very awkward, quite quickly. I go by Searcher outside my Multiverse." He said.

"Sure." Shades said, not really caring about the whole nicknaming thing.

"Thanks.... thankfully, our type of timeline isn’t that popular yet. But I was hoping to speak to you about our Ink’s missing Souls and maybe, we could trade ideas on what we could do. Not.. many people that would understand this problem." Searcher said. "Apart from Retconned Goth, as he was also taken from everyone that he loved."

"Retconned Goth?" Shades asked.

"A counterpart of us that was wiped from existence due to a retcon." Searcher explained. "He lives in the Anti-Void with his Error and he can't survive long outside the Anti-Void without his Save Star lantern. He is also a fusion of all of the different Goth's in his Multiverse, it's better to hear his story from him, then to hear it from me."

"Well, there is a private area a few minutes away from here, we can talk there." Shades suggested and Searcher nodded his head, before they started walking to the private area together.

"Anyway, how long have you been looking for your Ink's Soul?" Searcher asked.

"I didn't have any free time until now." Shades said. "How long have you been looking for it?"

"Two years, and Shades?"

"Yes?"

"If you ever come across an Dusttale based Timeline, run like hell and don't look back."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shades is Firehedgehog's version of Goth!Error from her story 'Shades of Time', please read that for Shades's side of this meeting.


	7. Searcher and Shades, Ace Detectives, Act One.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So, finally two Goths meet. This was suppose to be one chapter, Snow almost murdered us when we passed it onto her to edit. Enjoy Searcher from 'Child of Death, Destroyer of Worlds' by @Chaosdancer12 and my Goth 'Shades' from 'Shades of Time'.
> 
> "Yeah, Snow almost murdered us for this but she did say that I had better grammer. XD! Anyway, our Goth's get down to business and well... You have to read it to find out."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The first co-chapter with Fire, we ended up splitting this one in two when we wrote it.

To Shades’s relief, the private area was empty. It was a small room created by intersecting bookcases, and there were two comfy couches, a plant that seemed to be glowing, a pair of dark desks, and what looked like a door, carved with intricate flowers.

He waved his counterpart in, and then, he closed the door, with a click.

The room grew very quiet, and the flowers engraved on the door were now glowing, showing the privacy magic in the room was in effect.

“I hadn’t known there were places like this here.” Searcher said with interest, taking a seat.

Shades gave a wry grin. “I discovered it one day, when an Ink kept bothering me. First time I ever saw an admin kick someone out.” He replied, taking a spot for himself.

“Fun, now tell me the background on your Ink’s soul, and I’ll tell you what I know of mine.” Searcher asked.

“Seems fair.” Shades said to the other destroyer, and he began to tell him what he knew. While his Fate wasn’t evil like Searcher’s, the voices in the Anti-Void had told... stories.

Falling in love wasn’t something that he could see Ink doing.

At least, not now, because he was soulless.

Searcher leaned back in his seat and he began his story.

"I only really figured out that something was wrong when I saw some other Sans on a dare, drink some of Ink's paints, now, you would expect them to experience similar reactions to Ink, right? Well, they didn't. One drank the pink paint and he was worse than Lust, another drank the blue paint, causing himself to fall into depression, and Dust himself, and the last one drank the yellow paint, got hyper, and he trashed the place."

"Rather extreme reactions, my Ink's paints only have reactions on himself." Shades said frowning.

"Yes, but what if the paints were created using Ink's Soul as a baseline? And the extreme reactions are a defense, to make sure that only Ink would drink the paint, because he would be the only one to survive?"

"Not good at all, your Multiverse is... very dark compared to my own." Shades said, it was like his Multiverse was a happy reflection on it.

"That may be because of our Fates, I don't remember her much but I remember the one time that Dad complained about her, she was not happy that he had overruled her on something... I don't know what it was, but she harassed him for quite some time."

"Your Fate is not neutral? My dad told me that was the most important thing, beings such as Fate, have to be neutral, as they must have balance, even if they must do great evil to keep the multiverse moving. It’s why admins are able to move so freely, to make sure all stories are told, I just wish I had a larger god locally, that worked with the Admins, as they could help me look for Ink’s Soul or help me locate this so called ‘False Love’ that caused the issue." Shades said, unhappily.

"I didn't know that." Searcher said. "And if what you say is true, my Fate must be breaking a lot of laws. It may be enough for my Dad to do something to remind Fate why she should be neutral. I don't actually know why Ink lost his Soul, but I do know that I was a last minute addition to a completed puzzle.

My main theory is that this is the second chance for my Multiverse, Ink must have overfilled and overcrowded it the first time, and Fate didn't like any of the plans that he had to stop it from happening again. She must have blocked off the memory, causing him to have Swiss cheese for a memory and removed his Soul so that, if he did remember, she still had a way to control him."

"That's just messed up, just not right. Now I wish you had someone on your side to help, as Fate is a Deity and not actually that high in the totem pole of cosmic power." Shades said, tapping his chin.

"What's weird is that our Multiverses both came from the same core code, we shouldn't have this many differences. A broken fate compared to a neutral fate, both Inks’s Souls were stolen... but the reason for them is different. Can you check something for me, about the ‘false lover’... can you see if any Codes from your Multiverse ever visited mine? I think that someone is playing games." Shades whispered.

Searcher froze when Shades mentioned that someone was playing games before he checked their Codes, side by side. They were identical, up to a certain point, where they spill off from each other, before they continued down different paths.

Searcher stared at the split point. "Holy shit..." He mumbled. "I found where our timelines split, you mentioned a false lover, right?"

"Yes, Ink fell in love, and they ripped out his Soul. Ink only survived because, well, he's Ink." Shades said, pulling up his own Multiverse’s codes.

He poked about until he found the Codes of that moment, showing the other, as he knew that Searcher would be able to read it, unlike others.

"My Ink listened to Fate, and he ended it..." Searcher whispered, showing Shades the Code of that moment. "That is where our timeline splits. Ink ended the game, he won... And I guess that someone didn't like that..."


	8. Searcher and Shades, Ace Detectives, Act Two.

"Weird, still doesn't explain your Fate though... dammit!” Shades exclaimed in sudden realization, and he started speeding through the Codes.

"Look, at that moment- a ripple. A splinter of reality, our two Multiverses were ripped apart, and it was definitely not a natural split. Look at the Codes in these spots." He growled angrily.

"I think that The False Lover literally broke the balance in that critical moment, my Multiverse is more positive, and yours, negative. Which is why your Fate is out of control, Fate is suppose to be in balance, and a being of that much power- even if not a higher deity- trapped in negativity..." Shades said, trailing off.

"And it's why the relationship ended differently, my Ink broke up with him, yours stayed with him.” Searcher murmured, touching Palette's scarf. "The loss of positivity infected my Ink, and he created more, trying to fill that gap, but everything fell apart. And with my Fate in a state of depression, she could no longer see the positives, losing track of her original goal, and latching onto anything to keep her sanity, even if it meant making others suffer..."

"The worse part is that we can no longer fix it, as they’re two separate Multiverses now." Shades said, a migraine growing behind his eyelights. "Our Multiverses are two in one, if one falls, the other will follow."

Now wasn't that a frightening thought...

"What I can do is try to find the version of the False Lover in this side, and hope the Soul is still with them. You might have to track down your version of them too, after all in the original timeline, they were suppose to steal it, so that might be a clue for you." Shades said, thoughtfully.

“You know, it’s weird, knowing that while you’re my Multiversal counterpart, you’re also me... in ways that nobody else could be." Shades whispered tiredly.

Searcher smiled. "This is actually the best news ever for me, because up to now, I was stalking out all of the original AUs to see if they had any information on what happened. I know that my Fate hid it somewhere, and now, I know that it was to protect it. I just have to find out where it is." A migraine grew behind his eyelights.

"And keep an eye out for that False Lover, they might be looking for it too. Ink may not remember them, but I think that Fate will. It’s almost a certainty that she left several false leads and traps." He smirked.

"Well, I know one way that would tell us apart, Shorty..."

"Really? Other then you being taller then me?" Shades asked dryly.

"Who is currently wearing Palette's scarf?"

"I’d call you a dick, but since we’re two halves of a whole, I'd just be calling myself a dick." Shades said dryly, but he was also jealous, he'd been keeping an eye on Palette, but hadn't had any meetings with him since Fate released his past to him.

"Dude, disguise yourself as the version of Goth of whatever AU Palette is in, and pretend to bump into him." Searcher smirked. "It is what happened the first time that I bumped into him after I got my memories back, only that it was an accident and I couldn't see over the book that I was reading."

"Sounds like fun, by the way if I ever visit your side of this mess I'm dressing as a Fell Goth just to mess with people." Shades said with a wicked grin that the other shared, as it was a good plan.

Searcher had a wicked grin of his own. "And I can do the same thing, and oh, how I am going to enjoy their faces when they are faced with a Fell Goth that is taller than a Fell Palette.”

"Their faces... oh, stars." Shades cackled. "Anyway, I'll get a message to your side if I find anything like their identity or their AU’s Codes for you to hunt it down, we need to get both sides stable and hopefully, that will stabilize your Fate, and allow both of us to go home."

"Yes." Searcher told Shade the names of the three AUs that he had already gone through. "I already checked these three, there was nothing there, although if they are smart enough, they will head to those AUs after we are gone. My next target is Underfell, once its current timeline has ended. And I’m saving Reapertale for last, becuase the moment that I step into it, Dad and Uncle Grim will try to hunt me down. Mom might have a bar of soap waiting for me the moment that they drag me into our house, and I won't be able to leave for a while."

"Thanks, here's the list I have of AUs that I checked on my side. Mostly just scanned, though. My Ink keeps me rather busy." Shades said, passing his information over, then getting up. It was then that he realized that the longer he was close to Searcher, the worse the migraine was getting.

 _'We're not suppose to be separate people.'_ He thought, knowing the reason. They'd have to be careful not to spend too much time super close together.

"I'll see you around, other me. Let's get ourselves home." Shades said, taking the other’s hand and shaking it, ignoring the tingling it caused, his body glowing a faint purple as formerly unnoticed markings appeared in his single eyelight.

"I'll give these AUs a quick look once I'm done with Underfell." Searcher said as he stood up, wincing slightly as his migraine grew worse.

 _'We're not supposed to be separate people.’_ He thought at the same time as Shades. They couldn't spend too much time together, even after they stabilised their Multiverses.

"Yeah, I'll see you around." He shook the other's hand, seeing the changes in his markings and ignoring the tingling feeling that he was getting. He didn't notice the matching markings that appeared in his eyelight, or the glow that lit up his bones.

"Let's find a way for us to go home."

(As Searcher left the library, he didn't notice a Dreamswap Dream being thrown out by an Admin, to the shock of the group that he had been harassing.

"Did that other version of our Dream just get thrown out by an Admin?" A Dreamswap Nightmare asked.

"Yep." A Dreamswap Error looked up from a book that he had been reading.

"For bothering us." A Dreamswap Cross said.

"He did." Someone wearing a black hoodie with the hood up said.

"All in favour for buying that Admin some chocolate, say 'aye'!" The Nightmare said.

"Aye!")

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yep, so this is the end of the co-chapter that I wrote with Firehedgehog and we should be back to Searcher and his story in the next chapter.
> 
> The characters that made a cameo here are my main Dreamswap group. This library connects a lot of Multiverses together, and a lot of creators, so it is common to see characters from another Multiverse here.


	9. Redirection

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shell belongs to Firehedgehog

Reaper and Geno shivered, they knew what this was.

Goth was in the mood to prank someone.

* * *

Goth opened another portal after the talk with Shades was over, to check on Underfell.

The timeline had not changed.

But now that he had more information, he knew that he didn't have to stay too long in the AUs to search for the information that he needed.

All that he had to do now was to find that False Lover, they had to be looking for Ink's Soul too, and they had a head start on him.

Which meant that if he could find that False Lover, he could steal anything that they had on this, and use that information to help him.

But that was Plan B.

He still needed to find where Fate hid Ink's Soul.

And to do that, he needed to continue with what he had been doing.

Goth looked at his list of AUs. The AU after Underlust was Candytale. He could practically feel the drool that was coming from his mouth.

"Chocolate..."

Well, he did deserve a chocolate break.

He opened a portal to Candytale and he skipped through it, intending to go to the first place that sold chocolate when he bumped into someone.

He looked up and he almost had a Soul Attack. It was Ink!

He was about to turn and run away when someone else popped up.

"Hi Searcher!" It was Retconned, but why did he have a small hedgehog made out of fire on the top of his head, and a small dragon in his hood? "I see that you ran into Shell."

"Shell?" Searcher asked, before he looked at the Ink again. "You mean that Ink who is actually a God?"

"A God?" Shell asked. "Where?!"

He looked at Searcher before he winced. "What happened to your coding Kid?"

"It's a long story." Searcher said. He was about to explain when Shell and Retconned grabbed him by the arms.

"She found the Skittles, Run."

* * *

Searcher stared at what had once been the Underground of Candytale, before he turned his head to look at the guilty parties.

Shell was just whistling, looking at anything that wasn't the Underground. Retconned had, somehow, found the ingredients for cookies and the other Goth was mixing them together, with the fire hedgehog and the snow dragon being his helpers. But the final guilty party was sleeping off the sugar, the Temmie was quite happy to take a nap in what was clearly the remains of this Sans's jacket.

Searcher looked back at the destruction. "Mom and Dad are going to kill me if they find out that I was here when this happened..."

* * *

Goth sighed as he moved onto Dusttale, it would be a while before he could go near Candytale again, and Underfell was still stuck in that timeline.

He knew that Dust had moved out of Dusttale a long time ago, which left the Underground here abandoned and empty, which was perfect for what he wanted to do.

His first stop was the Royal Library, where he set up his tent, before he started to head for the deepest parts of the library, picking up the books that he needed.

Goth coughed when a cloud of dust that was triggered by him removing a book, covered his skull, it wasn't the Monster kind of Dust but it still went everywhere.

When he got Ink's Soul back, he was going to strangle that Artist for all of the trouble that he had caused him.

* * *

Goth was heading back to his tent when he heard footsteps behind him. He stopped, and he quickly summoned his scythe to block the blow from the one following him.

The creature following him was like nothing that he had seen before. Goth could feel the sweat steaming down his skull and his hands were shaking.

"What's wrong with me?" He asked himself. "Why do I feel so scared?"

He tightened his grip on his weapon, he really wished that he wasn't alone right now, the air around them felt heavy and Goth could hardly move.

He could taste his own fear, wait.... Fear? Would it be....

Goth was confused, but he tightened his grip on his weapon again. Something told him that this wasn't going to end well for him. He could barely keep his scythe in his shaking hands.

He shivered, moving his scythe to block another blow, one that could have caused serious damage to his ribs, if he didn't block it. The blow did cause him to move back, a bit, and he winced when his back hit a bookcase.

His arms were shaking again and he could barely keep them straight. His vision was slowly being overtaken by a pink haze.

He could hear the voices again.

_"Gothy, why?"_

_"How dare you Error, to take on the form of my eldest son?!"_

_"Goth is dead, you are nothing more than an imposter."_

"Palette, Mom, Dad, no..."

_**"And here I thought that you can help me, you're nothing more than a waste of my time Searcher."** _

"Shades..."

**"G _l_ itch!"**

**"Frea _k_!"**

**"Why** _are n't you_ des _tr_ oy **i** ng _AUs?!"_

"Get **_back t_** o work **you** was _t_ e of **s** pace!"

"No..." Goth dropped his scythe and he placed his hands over where his ears would be if he was a human. "Nononononononononononononononono......." He dropped to the ground, and he curled up into a ball, feeling like he was about to cry.

He couldn't breathe, it felt like the world around him was suffocating him, slowly draining away his will to live. His scarfs felt like a noose around his neck! He couldn't breathe! Everything hurt! Someone, anyone, please, make it stop! Please!

_'Palette, Mom, Dad, Shades! Anyone?! Please! I can't breathe, my chest hurts, help me! Please!'_

The creature made it's way over to him, and it was about to attack him, when it found itself being caught in blue strings.

It trilled and it was trying to say something when Shell appeared out of nowhere, waving one of his fingers from side to side and tsking.

"Now, what are you exactly..." Shell asked as he walked around the creature. "I have never seen you before..."

The creature shrieked at Shell, struggling against the strings. Shell frowned, before he snapped his fingers, causing the strings to wrap around the creature's Soul and pull it out of it's chest.

Shell stared at the bright Pink Soul. "Fear...." He snapped his fingers again and the strings pulled the Soul apart, dusting the creature.

Something was wrong here, Fear shouldn't be this powerful in a Multiverse without Glitchtale, and Fear should not have minions like this.

"Fear, what have you done?" Shell asked, before he turned to Searcher, who was rocking back and forth in his ball, muttering to himself, with tears steaming down his cheeks and his arms wrapped around his rib cage.

Shell knelt down and he began to remove Searcher's arms from his rib cage, but he fought back, kicking and screaming. Shell could see the blue tearmarkings that were coming to life on his cheeks.

But the one thing that worried him the most was that Searcher's eyelight now had a pink tinge to it.

"Searcher! Calm down!" Shell yelled. "Shades sent me! Searcher!"

Searcher continued to kick and scream, he had to get away! He needed to get away!

"Damn it!" Shell cursed before he used his strings to force the kid out of his ball. Searcher was still crying and screaming, even as Shell pulled him into a hug. He winced as he felt Searcher kick and punch at him, until the force behind them died away.

He rubbed Searcher's back, humming the tune that he knew all Geno's sang to their sons.

_"Darling, oh won't you please calm your heart._   
_Just close your eyes...and hear your heartache wisp away..._   
_Let sleep embrace you, don't be afraid of the dark._

_Please, allow me to pacify your mind. Just rest, oh rest...and feel your pain be blown away..._   
_And no harm done, oh no pain shall come...for now place your worries aside._

_Hush now, hush now,_   
_No one can hurt you now._   
_See all that you've accomplished, now take a bow!_

_Everyone has their own battles inside their hearts so please... be gentle._

_You never have to fight your battles alone..._

_Darling, oh won't you please calm your heart._   
_Just close your eyes...and hear your heartache wisp away..._   
_Let sleep embrace you, don't be afraid of the dark._

_Please, allow me to pacify your mind. Just rest, oh rest...and feel your pain be blown away..._   
_So no harm done, oh no pain shall come...for now place your worries aside."_

"Shhh....Searcher, it's okay." Shell whispered to the young one as he rubbed his back. He could feel the young one crying into his shoulder. "It's okay Kid, Shades sent me."

"S-S-Shades sent you?"

"Yeah, your fear reached him." Shell pulled away so that he could look at Searcher. The pink tinge was gone from his eyelight but the young skeleton still had the tear markings, and the faint traces of tears on his cheeks. "Kid, when was the last time that you had a day off from your search?"

"I already take days off Shell, I'm fine."

"I meant an actual day off, when you did something like going to a theme park or to the cinema..."

Searcher was quiet.

"Searcher..."

"I can't remember..." He eventually said. "The last thing that I did something like that, was a week before Fate took me, I think... I was with Palette and we went on a log flume ride, and afterwards, we caught colds because of how cold it was....

And as Error, the closest thing that I got to a day off was watching Undernovela...."

Shell took a deep breath. "Kid, you need a break, we are going back to your tent, packing it up, and then, I will dump you in the closest Theme Parktale that I can find, and I want you to stay there for a week."

"But Shell! I...."

"No Searcher, you need a freaking vacation, your Ink's Soul has been hidden for a very long time, it can stay hidden for a bit longer, while you take a long, overdue break!"

"Can I...."

"No, the only books that I want to see you reading for the next week, is for leisure, and don't even think about switching the dust jackets for them!"

"Yes Shell." Searcher sighed before he followed the Ink back to his campsite. "But Shell, was the hell was that earlier?! What was that creature and what did it want with me?!"

"That was one of Fear's minions."

"Fear, as in the God?"

"Yes, but Fear is not meant to have minions or to be this strong in a Multiverse without Glitchtale..."

"Then, what the hell is going on..."

"I don't know." Shell said as his strings packed up Searcher's camp. "Unless..."

"Unless what Shell?"

"Has everything happened recently that could cause Fear to be this strong?"

Searcher frowned, there had been nothing that happened recently that could explain that, but.... there was an event that was the only possible explanation to how and why Fear was this strong....

"Fear was the False Lover, the one who stole the Soul of Shades's Ink." He whispered. "Having a Soul like that would give him some of the powers of creation, well, the half of Fear in Shades's Multiverse but the half in my Multiverse, he's still looking for it..."

"Exactly, if the Soul for Ink here, can stay hidden for that long without being found, then it will be okay for another week or two, while you take a break. You will have enough time to find it Searcher, but you are close to burning yourself out over this." Shell gave Searcher his supplies back, before he walked around so that he was behind Searcher. "Anyway, have fun on your vacation kid!"

"Wait, what?!" Searcher yelled. "But what about Shades, he has to know about Fear!"

"He's busy right now!" Shell giggled before he pushed Searcher through a portal. "You can talk to him later."

* * *

Goth found himself arriving in a Theme Parktale, by landing face first, into the sand. He sat up to spit out the sand that he swallowed."Star damn it Shell." He muttered, once all of it was out of his mouth.

He looked up, to see the fairground.

"This is going to be a long week."


	10. Connection

Despite his rough entrance, he had to agree, Shell was right about him needing a break.

Goth leaned back in his deck chair, drinking the slushie that he had ordered.

He had spent the last week being a kid again, and exploring this copy of Theme Parktale.

The entire AU was a gigantic theme park, and depending on which route the timeline was on, the rides that were available, changed.

Goth had enjoyed the ones based on the genocide route, they had been fun.

He couldn't help but look back on some of his earlier adventures, the ones right after he remembered who he really was....

* * *

_He stared at the Dentist Genocide Sans that now had one of those drills that were used on teeth, in his arms. The drill was active and it looked like Geno had plans to use it on the pinned Reaper underneath him._

_Goth slowly backed away from the scene, this may be an alternate version of his parents but he had learned a long time ago not to get in his Mom's way._

* * *

_There was a rumbling sound, before a beam of Magic destroyed one wall of the building, and Goth jumped out of the hole that he had made, screaming._

_"It's every human, or Monsters, for themselves!"_

* * *

He chuckled, Dentisttale had not been fun then, but looking back, he couldn't help but laugh at the look of the Goth of that AU as he escaped.

He couldn't believe that it had been over two years now, he had spent over two years searching the oldest AUs of his Multiverse for any sign of a clue, for what he was seeking.

But he knew, that eventually, his Ink would return to creating all of the copies, and the AUs, that he had to clean up every single day. His vacation from being the Destroyer would be over, soon.

Over two years was a new record for his Ink, but he could already feel the slight increase in AUs, and copies, that were currently being created, and soon, Error would have to act on the stage once again, to play the role of a heartless Destroyer, who destroyed AUs and copies....

Goth slowly stirred the straw in his melting slushie, everything was going to change again, and he was going to be dragged into it, kicking and screaming. He just wanted to find his Ink's Soul and go home, back to his parents, his siblings, and Palette.

He gently grabbed the paint splattered scarf that he was wearing, running his fingers over it.

* * *

_Seeing Palette again had been a shock to his system, and he could tell that Palette had been shocked too._

_He just wanted to throw all of his plans out of the window, grab Palette, and kiss him senseless, to tell him how he felt about him..._

_But he didn't...._

_But hearing that familiar nickname from Palette had reminded him of just how much was at stake here, even before he knew the story behind everything...._

_Because it wasn't just so he could go back to his family that he was doing this, he was going this for everyone that cared about him._

_For sweet kind Palette, who missed him so much..._

_For Nightmare, who had given him a home that he could be safe in..._

_For his parents, so that there wouldn't be a reason for him to be taken from them again..._

_He had to do this, so he ran away from Palette, once he got his books back..._

* * *

But now, he had another monster to add to his list, Shades.

His counterpart was trying his hardest to find his Ink's Soul and even then, he took time out of his search, to do something to help him, when he was in trouble.

He had to help Shades in his search too, he had been so happy to learn that he wasn't alone in this mess anymore, that there was someone who was going through the same pain as him, even if he felt a bit guilty for feeling happy about that...

It was like he was part of a family again...

And speaking of a family...

From here, he could see a plushie that he knew that Shino would love, Goth messed with his straw as he thought about it. Shell did send him here for a vacation, and part of a vacation was to buy wacky and weird gifts for your family....

He smirked.

Goth sniggered at the title of a book that he picked up.

_**'1001 ways to get your Tsundere spouse to love you.'** _

Oh, he was so getting that for his Dad.

Goth placed it into his basket, which held more gifts, for his family.

' _I'm being stalked by this idiot, help me! --- >'_ was printed on a T-shirt that he picked for his Mom.

Goth had found a skull pendant for Raven, sereval plushies for Shino, and a new scarf for Sorell. He took his items to the check out and he paid for all of them, and the delivery charge.

This postal service was spread across AUs, and the gifts would be sent straight to his home.

Goth really wanted to send a postcard with the package, but he couldn't. He was still not ready for them to find out what really happened to him.

But still, he wanted to be there when they opened their parcels.

He placed his hands in his jacket's pockets as he left the Post Office.

Tomorrow, he could begin his search again, heading out to another AU to search it from the surface to the Underground, in the hopes that he found a clue that he could use to end this.

He decided to head towards a semi abandoned children's playground, because it had the best spot for star grazing, and to watch the stars come out, at night.

* * *

Goth suddenly felt like he had been punched in the stomach, his legs gave out on him and he collapsed, facing head first into a sandpit. He gagged a few times, before he started to throw up purple Magic.

"S-Shades...." He tried to get up, only to throw up a fresh batch of his Magic. His counterpart had to be hurt, to the point that he almost saw his Father, or his Uncle, again. It was the only possible reason why he was now throwing up his Magic, it had to be...

He could taste the Magic that was building up in his throat again, before he threw up again. Shades was in trouble, he had to find a way to help him. He winced when a sudden, and slight pain, started to come from his ribs.

He lifted his jacket and his top out of the way to see faint markings that could only be caused by damaged ribs. This only made him worry even more about Shades, because if the damage was serious enough to cross over to him, just like the time that he got caught by that Fear creature, then how badly injured was Shades?

But if Shades's injuries and his Fear, could cross over, then that meant...

He tore open his supplies, grabbing the closest HP replenishing Monster Food that he could find, before he started to chow down on it, feeling the slight damage to his ribs heal itself. He hoped that some of the healing was transferred over to Shades, it looked like that he needed it.

He didn't know just how long that he stayed there, waiting to see a sign that told him that Shades was going to be okay. Did Shades feel like this, when he was waiting to see if he was okay?

Goth messed with his hands, worried, was Shades going to be okay? He closed his eyes but when he opened them again, he wasn't in that sandpit.

He was standing in a endless world of black that resembled the Save Screen, but he knew that it wasn't the Save Screen.

He could hear music, and not any music, a Battle Theme.

A Megalovania Battle Theme.

Every Sans had one, even an Outcode Sans. He turned around to see a window opening behind him, and the Battle Theme grew louder.

He knew that Battle Theme, it was his Battle Theme.

And there was one other Skeleton that shared that Battle Theme with him.

"Shades!" He yelled, running to the window, and placing his hands on it.

Shades was fighting some sort of creature, it was a humanoid demon/lizard thing with a hunched, curved back, and legs, that showed that it was more at home on all fours, due to it's bone structure.

Scales of pitch black covered it's body with protruding spikes in key places, and it's head had a crest of skulls protecting it's skull from damage.

It's eyes were white-yellow and very unfriendly, it's mouth was full of fangs and puffs of smoke slipped from it's mouth from between the two largest fangs that trailed down towards it's chin. At each wrist and ankle were looser skin, most likely poison sacks as both feet and hands had claws.

The final bit was a long slim scale covered tail that split into two, ending into small fan like sections that were dripping poison.

Shades himself looked horrible, he was covered in wounds, and Searcher could see the partially healed cracked ribs from here.

"Shades!" He yelled as the creature spat at Shades. The liquid hit the spot where Shades had once been, revealing that it was acid, not poison, that the creature was using as a weapon, as the grooves left behind from the liquid hissed and smoked.

He banged on the window. "SHADES!" He yelled, watching as the tail hit his counterpart in the chest. " _SHADES!"_

His counterpart had been sent flying into the wall, and he was not moving...

"S **H** a **D** _ES **!**_ " Searcher screamed, feeling his voice glitch as he banged harder on the window. "No! Get up! Shades, please!"

He fell to his knees, with his arms above him, curled into fists, as he pressed the top of his skull against the window.

"Don't leave me alone..." He whispered. "Please.... I don't want to be alone." Tears started to roll down his cheeks. "Don't leave me Shades, please. Get up, you have to get up. Don't leave me...."

Searcher looked up again, before he growled, and he began to bang on the window again, hitting it with everything that he had.

He was not going to watch Shades die! Not when he could do something about it!

Cracks started to spread from where he was hitting the window, repairing themselves as fast as he was creating them.

He just kept on hitting it, until a small hole had been created. Searcher put both of his hands into the hole, using them to make the hole larger. He pushed as hard as he could, slowly opening a tear in the window.

"SHADES!" He yelled, using everything that he had to send a charging Gaster Blaster through the tear. "DON'T GIVE UP!"

He screamed as something scattered the window, sending him flying. His surroundings slowly changed from the Save Screen like area to the sandpit. He whimpered as the pain, and his injuries from the window hit him, causing him to throw up more of his Magic.

He just lay there for a few minutes, before he slowly started to snack on one of his HP replenishing Monster Foods as the stars slowly came out....

Shades had found part of his Ink's Soul, and Searcher couldn't help the smile that spread across his face, one of them was a step closer to going home.

Home....

How long had it been since he thought of his family? He missed them so much.

He missed his younger siblings.

Raven, Shino, Sorell....

He missed them so much, but it was nice to be a big brother again, even if he had to send those gifts anonymously....

He noticed a window opening in the corner of his eye, and he looked at it.

_"Thank you, be careful..."_

"You're welcome Shades..."


End file.
